Tails' Nocturne from Shadow
by JenFoxworth
Summary: Shadow helps Tails find his lost past, and bretheren.


Shadow leaned heavily against a tree in the forest, exhausted. Gasping for breath, he went over the weeks past events. The last seven days had been hectic for him, as the forces of the Fallen Race and GUN had given him no chance for rest as they pursued him. It was not difficult for the leader of this evil people, Gassik, to convince the Commander that Shadow was still truly evil.

An oath, he had told him, the dark hedgehog could not leave unfinished, and that had been his only reason for destroying the Black Arms. Now, he would destroy the humans, and everyone that got in his way.

Shadow cursed under his breath, the humans were so gullible that they quickly believed the pack of lies told to them, and joined the foul creatures to hunt him down. He had finally lost them, but in doing so had gotten lost himself, having no idea where he was now. What he had been through would have killed a normal creature of his size from the sheer hardship of it all, but he wasn't normal. The black hedgehog sat down, leaning against the trunk of the gargantuan tree, deciding that he would worry about it later; now he needed rest.

A cool slithering feeling caused him to awaken not five minutes later, an enormous snake curling itself tightly around him. He felt the air being crushed out of his lungs as the serpent drew its coils in a constricting grasp. Shadow struggled to escape, but in vain. He was still far too weak from fleeing the armies, and his vision started to blur from lack of oxygen as the poisonous reptile brought its head up in preparation to strike.

It waited until its victim's head slumped over in a state of unconsciousness then snapped its head downwards, intending to sink its fangs deep into the hedgehog's face. At the last possible moment however, it felt a wooden stick smack hard into its snout. The snake hissed angrily at the stinging pain, and looked around to see where it had come from. Suddenly, a small fox leaped out of the trees onto the predator's head. Clinging on tightly with one hand, she smashed the snake repeatedly between the eyes with her stout weapon.

"Evil, evil, monster! Take that, and THAT!" she yelled, her eyes burning with contempt. The appearance of this new foe with pain caused the serpent to forget about its prey, and it released Shadow from its grip, thrashing about in an attempt to throw its tormentor off. While the snake was busy, another small fox came out of the bushes and slunk up to Shadow. He blew on a small whistle, and three other foxes came out of hiding. Together, they lifted him up and carried him off, swishing their famous twin-tails as they went.

When Shadow awoke once again, he found himself in a small hut, lying on a soft pile of leaves. He sat up, taking in his surroundings. The tiny place was not vastly decorated, but had shelves and shelves covered in medicine herbs, jars of sap, and cut up leave strips for bandages. Standing up, he walked over to a large window in the wall and gasped. He was in a huge tree-village, multi-colored foxes were seen everywhere, and all of them had two tails. They laughed and played, some flew in-between buildings while others preferred to walk on the plank bridges, and evenmore went about their daily chores and tasks, while still some even tinier ones sat around an older one, listening intently.

The black hedgehog continued to stare, still speechless. Could this be where Tails the fox came from? And how did he get here, the last thing he remembered was the snake's piercing eyes glaring at him with its hideous mouth agape. Shadow turned around at a noise behind him. Standing there was a young purple fox that was staring at him curiously.

"Hello, would you please tell me where I am?" the dark hedgehog asked her, trying to be polite. He was no longer tired, as he had slept well, but he was hungry, and wondered if she could help him find some food.

"You speak of the outsider's language, why were you in our forest?" she said, her tails twitching. A new look came to her face, and it took him a moment before he realized it was fear.

"I was in this forest lost, because the humans were chasing me mercilessly, attempting to murder me. I was going to rest when that giant snake attacked me. I was still tired from running, and was unable to defend myself. Trust me, I am no friend to them, if those are the ones you mean as outsiders." He said. The fox sighed in relief, relaxing a little more. She walked towards the door, gesturing him to follow.

"We are the Rhgd Rtgby, the Twin Tribe. For centuries we have lived peacefully in this vast woodland, staying to the trees, as there are many of predators on the ground that would easily make a meal of us. We have always been here, hardly ever venturing into the outside world, as the reports from our spies frightened us. We have heard of the humans, and other animals. Seeing the humans, our spies watched them, noticing that some of them were good, but others were very evil. Our race decided to remain hidden, not wanting to risk ourselves in fear of the evil. We stray from other animals that speak of the outsider's language, knowing they most likely have been raised around them." She led him out into the tribe's world, explaining more as they walked.

Now seeing the village up close, Shadow watched as most of the foxes stared at him, wondering what a creature like him was doing in their midst. "I am known as Flick, I speak your tongue because I was a spy, and observed the humans well. What is your name?" the purple fox asked, ignoring the looks that Shadow was receiving.

"I am Shadow the hedgehog, and..." before the dark one could continue, he was interrupted. "Do not tell me of your past, as when you appear before the council, they will ask you of it anyway." Flick said, waving him inside a rather large hut. It was dark inside, lit by a single fire in the center, casting an eerie glow on the faces of the foxes sitting inside. There were about ten of them, all wearing hooded cloaks and gazing into the flames. They did not look up as he entered, but spoke without moving. Shadow could not see their eyes from the cloaks, nor could he understand what they were saying. He turned to Flick, who was also watching the fire as she translated for him.

"They wish to know your name and past. Sit near them so they may see you in the light." She said, unmoving. The black hedgehog walked over cautiously, and sat in a space between them. As he did so, Flick came up and stood behind him, saying nothing as the hooded ones lifted their faces slightly to look at him. Their eyes seemed to blaze as the fire reflected in their pupils. Shadow figured that he had better get started, as his story was long, and these people seemed to understand.

"I am Shadow the hedgehog, created by Professor Gerald..." he began, the unmoving faces of the foxes observing him constantly.

"G ik Asifeh rsy syfcysec, jtyiryf bw Qteoyaaet Cytivf..." Flick translated as he went along, her voice echoing with his in the large empty room.

By the time he was finished, the morning sun in the trees had risen high into the sky, and a far off gong tolled to signal the noon hour. Throughout his tale, the foxes of the council had remained silent, though a few looked up in slight suprise whenever he mentioned Tails. Now, a fox larger then the rest made a swift signal with one of his hands, and immediately the covered windows were opened, and light flooded into the room.

They removed their hoods to show their faces, and Shadow was shocked to see that many of them had scars covering their faces. Whenever they spoke, Flick would translate what they said quickly, and Shadow would tell her his reply.

"As you can see, Shadow, many of us were treated badly by the humans as well. That is why we were weary of you. In our language, your name means The Sly One, so it was only natural that we were cautious. We see now that trust is possible, and know that your story is true." Said a sky blue fox with a scar running from his left eartip to his right eye. The dark hedgehog nodded understandingly, that made sense.

"You may not know this, we of the Twin Tribe are also in harmony with the Ancient Echidnas, though their choice to be among humans is not appealing. We would like to know more about this fox that you have seen, the one you call Tails." Said another, this one a light pink female.

"Hmm... As far as I know, Tails has been with Sonic most of his life, and before that he lived in a forest alone, always being teased because of his two tails. He's pretty well known, as he's helped Sonic save the planet quite often, and his ability with mechanics and machines is one of the top classes in the world. He was thinking of working for the government the last time I saw him." Shadow told them, watching them with interest. A few of them nodded, while others looked at the floor, ears drooping. A fox whose tail tips where black spoke up, gesturing to another standing in a corner.

"Bring Trisola, do not tell her of why." He said, and then he turned and addressed Shadow. "We know of who you speak. Many years ago, a mother fox took her small child out past the boundaries, searching for a special plant for our infirmary, and did not return. We searched, and found her lying dead from an unknown cause, and the young one was no where to be seen. Though we looked for weeks, we were unable to find him, he was a small orange creature, and his name was Tails. Trisola is his elder sister by four years, and she will want to know of this. Nothing will stop her from searching for her brother."

At this moment, a young fox entered the hut, bearing a powerful resemblance to Tails. She was a bright white color, her tail and eartips were black, and her eyes shined red. She glanced at Shadow, then bowed respectfully to her elders. Shadow was beginning to understand their language, able to pick up pieces here and there and understand them.

"You summoned me, Great Vulpez?" she said, unblinking.

"We have news that your brother lives, Trisola. If you wish to search for him, he is residing in the land of the Outsiders, and has accepted their way of life completely. You have the council's permission." Said a lime green fox. Now Shadow could almost understand them completely, their language was not difficult.

"You don't have to translate anymore." He told Flick, and she looked at him suprised as he gave a try at speaking their speech.

"Is it possible that I travel with her? The human world is dangerous, and I doubt she has ever been there, besides, I know where Tails will most likely be at the moment." The elders stared at him, realizing how quickly he had picked up their tongue.

"Yes, Asifeh, you may. Our thanks goes to you for this." One said. Another still watched him, shaking his head.

"Remember, Tails does not know of his past with us, only his life with the humans. We may seem a magical tribe, but we are not like the Ancient Echidnas. Behind our mystiques, we have technology, far more advanced than that of the outsiders. We our careful to hide it from them, as they are greedy and would love to have our power in their hands. You must be cautious, Trisola, take only what you need to convince him, and no more." He said, an air of caution in his voice.

Flick, who was sitting next to Shadow, stood. "I will go with them, as to further my knowledge of the humans, and to keep an eye on these two, to make sure they don't get into trouble." The purple fox said, winking. As the three turned to leave the hut, one of the elders stood, and handed Shadow a small instrument. It was like four penny whistles connected together, and had small black and red bands decorating it.

"Asifeh, this is a Pencola, learn to play it well, for someday your life may depend on it. All of the foxes of the Twin Tribe carry one, we use it to communicate long distances, Flick and Trisola will teach you how to use it." She said, turning without further words back to the council.

Flick lead Shadow to her home, smiling as Trisola bombarded him with questions about her brother. Was he all right? Did the humans hurt him? How does he react to people? As they ate a quick lunch of wild fruits, hot bread, and vegetable soup, this continued on, and it seemed that she would never leave him alone. She was attempting to wheedle all information about Tails from him, and at one point she started pacing around the room, worried. Flick packed haversacks of food, and a few complicated looking mechanical instruments, then the dark hedgehog watched as the two foxes braided feathers into their hair and painted some marks on their faces.

"They identify our clan and allow us to pass through the woods unbothered. We're supposed to dress ourselves this way every morning, but we've been slightly lazy the past couple of days." Trisola said, twitching her tails. The girls wore brown robes like the elders in the council, and small shoes that were made like sandals.

"You should probably paint your face too." Flick said, turning to Shadow with a small jar of green and white mixture.

"And why do you wear those funny shoes and gloves? You might want to change those for a while too." Said Trisola, handing him another pair of shoes.   
When they had finally finished with him, his face had been painted with white and green markings, and they had tied some pearl colored feathers to his quills. He wore no gloves, and had shoes like theirs, his old ones stuffed into his sack in case he would want them later.

"There, now we shouldn't have to much trouble with you scaring anyone, you look just like one of us! Let's go, it's already almost three o' clock." Said Flick as they picked up their bags and began heading out the door. Shadow looked around for stairs leading to the forest floor, but was suprised when his fox companions grabbed ahold of his arms and flew him down.

"So, which way should we go?" asked Trisola, looking around nervously. Apparently the ground was home to powerful carnivores, and the foxes had to keep a constant eye out for them.

"If you can show me the way out of the this forest, than I can take it from there. It depends where we come out, but even so it shouldn't take us long to get where we need to be." The dark hedgehog said.

"Alright, that's the easy part. The humans call this place the Congo, and we're in the heart of it. They keep an outpost not forty miles from here, and if we approach them, we can say we were lost, and need a ride." Flick said, nodding.

"But, I thought you didn't trust the humans, and won't they be supicous if they see us painted like this?" Shadow asked, puzzled. Trisola shook her head. "No, there are many that live on this continent that look as we do. We don't trust the humans, but we know how to take advantage of them." She said with a small smile. As the walked on, they explained why they chose to face the humans this way. Why should they be forced to hide as normal animals? They were proud of their tribe, but still when asked, they kept it a secret. To the humans and others, they appeared as magical foxes, and a mystic air seemed to always surround them.

Upon reaching the outpost, the people their reacted just as Flick said they would. They gave them a ride on a helicopter to the nearest city, and from there, Shadow took charge. Flick and Trisola explained however, that they were not going to remove their feathers or their paint, nor change what they were wearing. The black hedgehog decided that he should do this as well, so as to not make them feel uncomfortable, besides, he kind of liked his new appearance.

Shadow led them to an airport, and knowing that there was no way they could get passports, had them stow themselves in the luggage department. Once the airliner jet took off, they came out of hiding made themselves comfortable among the hundreds of bags and suitcases. It was dark, but Trisola pulled some nightvision glasses out her bag and it was as bright as day. They were a marvel of technology, for they were the size of ordinary reading glasses, but were silver and contained all kinds of complicated computer components.

"If you would like, we could practice our Pencolas. Would you like to learn some music, Asifeh?" asked Trisola, speaking in English, as she had also learned the language well. Shadow had gotten used to them referring to him as either Shadow or Asifeh, and would respond to both.

"Sure." He said, pulling out his own. During the four hours that it took to cross the ocean and reach their destination, he learned many songs from them, realizing that each one had a special meaning to it.

"These songs are known by many tribes, and if you play them almost anywhere, there will nearly always be someone ready to respond to you." Flick had told him just before they landed, knowing that it was too dangerous to continue playing while the plane was about to stop.

It was even more difficult to escape the plane undetected as it was getting on board it in the first place. They had nearly made it and were mingling with the other passengers of the plane, when a security officer saw them, and knew that they had not been on the plane to begin with. As the guards approached them, Shadow realized that the game was up, and that they had no choice but to run for it now. They fled, and at the airport's entrance, hailed a taxi and quickly lost their pursuers in the traffic. It wasn't long however that the taxi driver realized that they didn't have any money and stopped. He had driven them almost ten miles already, and demanded payment. Trisola reached into her pack and pulled out a small gold coin and handed it to him.

"This is all we have, is it enough?" she asked, unaware of its true value. The taxi driver bit the coin to make sure it wasn't fake, then grinned at her.

"For this darling, I'll take you three anywhere, it's more than enough! Where would you like to go?" he said, beginning to drive again.

"Is it possible that you take us to Los Angles?" Shadow asked. The driver turned and glanced at him then made a couple turns onto the highway.

"Sure, it's only 'bout twenty miles from here, and well worth that coin. Where about's there would you like?" he said, turning on the radio.

"The Nights Casino, if you will. I have a feeling that someone I know is waiting there for us. And could we listen to a rock station or something?" the dark hedgehog asked, a mischievous look on his face.

Later, at the casino, after the driver had given them some money and insisted that they had overpaid him, Shadow explained why they were here. "The Nights Casino is also very popular with Sonic, Tails best friend. I know for a fact that Sonic comes here often, to check up on how they're running things, as he owns about a quarter of the place. When we find him, we find Tails, or at least he will know were Tails is." He said as they walked inside. The place was lit stunningly with all kinds of bright lights, there were poker tables and slot machines everywhere. Pinball machines with Sonic and Nights decorated the place, and there were people betting everywhere. They walked over to the dining area and sat down, a Nightmaren waiter coming up and handing them menus before he floated off.

"Now that we have actual cash, we can afford whatever we want. But it is sad to see all these fools gambling away. Most likely one out of every fifty will go home broke. If we wait here, we will eventually see Sonic, he always is checking on the Triple Sonic Speed Smoothies." Shadow said, looking at the menu. Flick and Trisola nodded, and continued to gaze around at the beautifully decorated place. The Nightmaren returned, carrying a pad to right down their orders.

"Give me the Gyro steak wrap thing, and a Martini, but no alcohol in it please. I don't need to get drunk and murder Sonic when he arrives." Shadow said. Flick was about to tell the flying creature what she wanted when Trisola jumped up and screamed.

"It's TAILS!" she yelled, leaping up running over to the small boy fox and hugging him tightly. It was Tails, he had come to the casino in place of Sonic to check it, and yelped when his sister grabbed him. "OH! I thought I'd never ever see you again!! Oh, Tails!" she sobbed as her brother stared at her in confusion. Shadow and Flick walked up leaving the Nightmaren and telling him that they weren't hungry anymore. He glided off, used to people in the casino acting strangely.

"Uh... Do I know you?" Tails asked Trisola, completely baffled. He looked up at Shadow and Flick, who were now standing next to him. "Shadow? What are you doing here? If you're looking for Sonic..." he began, but couldn't finish becauseTrisola hugged him tighter. Shadow shook his head and gave a rare smile.

"Trisola, you aren't trying to crush your brother are you?" he asked sarcastically. Tails eyes became wide and his mouth dropped open.

"What?!" the orange fox asked in shock. Trisola let go him, trembling with excitement.

"Oh, Tails! I..." she fell silent at a signal from Shadow. The hedgehog pointed over to the entrance to the dining area, and began to gently urge them to another room. Standing and questioning their previous waiter Nightmaren were the airport security guards, enforced with nearly a score of GUN troops. Once out of sight, they spoke again.

"Didn't think they would follow us this far, obviously the Commander isn't going to give up. We need to get out of here so we can discuss this somewhere else. What are you looking at?!" Shadow said, noticing Tails staring at his appearance.

"Nothing! I don't know what this is about, but there's an employee door that leads out of the back of the casino not far from here. Actually, my new workshop isn't but a couple minutes away, by my Tornado that is. I've got plenty of room, would you like to go there?" the innocent looking boy asked, much to Trisola's delight


End file.
